Sisters, Kinda

Danna's a Lesbian

Tomorrow. When Nova Artino was to give a speech in front of all of the Renegades. She was dreading it.

"Oh come on it won't be that bad!" Ruby said.

Nova and the team were all hanging out in Adrian's room. Max was upstairs in his room with Jade and Sterling, Ruby's little brothers. Ruby was basically in Oscar's lap, and they were holding hands sitting on a couch. Danna had invited Narcissa Cronin, granddaughter of Gene Cronin, the Librarian, to Adrian's house. They were sitting suspiciously close together, subtlety touching each other when they thought no one was looking, and Nova guessed that Narcissa's fear of never experiencing true love was not going to happen.

"Ruby, I have done so many things that I am not proud of as Nightmare. I almost killed Captain freaking Chromium!"

"Ah but you didn't," Hugh said as he walked in with Simon with trays of food.

"But I almost!! Can you imagine what our lives would be like if I hadn't been distracted and hadn't hesitated to pull the trigger?" Nova countered.

"Well I wouldn't be alive, for one," Hugh stated.

"But you did hesitate and look where we are now," Adrian said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Okay sorry but I shouldn't have hesitated in the first place," Nova grumbled, "I may be a changed woman, but back then I had some pretty strong feelings"

"Okay okay that's enough. Dads are outta here. Good luck on your speech tomorrow, Nova." Simon said, ushering Hugh out of the room.

"Now woah there, Nightmare. Don't be saying that you shouldn't have hesitated," Oscar butted in.

Nova stuck her tongue out at him. "You forget that I had been training to kill the Council for as long as I can remember."

Nova pulled Adrian and sat with him of the couch across from Oscar and Ruby. Narcissa and Danna were sitting on pillows on the floor. Narcissa's red hair was down and Danna was fiddling with the ends of it. They all sat, drinking in the quiet.

"I'm sorry," Nova said suddenly through the silence. "I really am so sorry." She could feel the tears coming, thinking about all the terrible things she did during her time as an Anarchist. She put her head in the crook of Adrian's neck.

"Hey, it's okay. We all forgave you a long time ago," Danna said, getting up to kneel in front of the couch. She took Nova's hands. "I don't understand why you hated the Renegades for your entire life, but I know that it's none of my business. It's all in the past, and you have always made an awesome Renegade." She finished the last sentence with a wink.

Sniffling and swiping at her nose, Nova said "Thank you, Danna."

After another moment of silence, Nova said abruptly, "I'm gonna tell you my story."

And so she started.

"When I was six years old, I fell asleep holding my baby sister, Evie..."

She looked at Adrian, conveying that this was indeed the story she told him in his room of the jungle. He squeezed her hand in reassurance. She continued on.

Nova told the same story that she told Adrian, except now, she told her friends about how she put the gunman to sleep as he held the gun to her own forehead.

"My Uncle Alec came and killed the man. I hesitated. I couldn't kill him. I should've put him to sleep earlier to at least save Evie, if not my parents."

"Uncle Alec being Ace Anarchy?" Oscar gaped.

She nodded.

"And so I lived with Ace. But every time I would close my eyes... I could hear the gunshots. Over and over. I couldn't sleep. Eventually I stopped trying. That's how I developed the power to never sleep. My other power, to put people to sleep, I was born with." She finished.

"Wow." Said Max, as he walked in the room wrapped in a blanket. "I am so sorry, Nova."

Nova swiped at the tears that had leaked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Everything's fine," she ended with a smile.

He sat on the floor by Oscar and Ruby.

"Where's the boys?" Ruby asked.

"Oh they fell asleep. I guess they were tired. But that's okay I just came down here. I couldn't sleep."

Adrian kissed her forehead again.

"Sorry that you came in so late, Max, but we were just going to go to bed. Are you guys okay to stay over? Narcissa?"

The quiet mirror-walker started when she hear her name.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine with whatever," she said, looking over at Danna.

"Yeah! We'll stay," Danna added.

"My mom said it's cool. And since the boys are already asleep..." Ruby said.

"I'm staying too." Oscar said with a look at Ruby.

"Nova?"

"Hm? Oh. I mean- I don't sleep, but yeah I'll stay." Nova said.

•   •   •   •   •   •

Everyone was in their sleeping places. Max had went back upstairs. Ruby and Oscar had sleeping bags next to each other's on the floor., Danna and Narcissa were sharing the couch, and Adrian and Nova were sharing the bed.

"Goodnight," Nova said to everyone.

"Goodnight," came everyone's replies.

"Goodnight," Nova whispered to Adrian.

"Goodnight, Nova," he whispered back.

They kissed and Nova melted into his embrace.

"Ew gross! No PDA!! I can't see you, but I can hear you!" Oscar complained.

Nova could hear Ruby lightly smack him, and then she heard a quiet kiss come from where they were laying, and she smiled to herself. She loved her friends. No, they were so much more than that to her now. They were her own little found family. If you told her 5 years ago that she would be all cozy in the Captain's house, she probably would have shot you in the foot. 

Her thoughts slowed, but she knew that she would not be sleeping tonight. 

Sweet rot. The speech tomorrow.